Tag: CAF Confederation Cup

By Daniel Oyekan

Kwara United’s Head coach Tunde Sanni  has  lamented his side’s ouster from the  2025 CAF Confederation Cup following their 1-0 loss to  Asante Koto of Ghana on Sunday  at the MKO Abiola Stadium Arena  in Abeokuta.

Kwara United entered the return leg optimistic of overturning their 4–3 first leg defeat at the Accra Sports Stadium penultimate weekend  but failed to capitalise on several scoring chances in front of their home fans.

Sunday’s loss , therefore, sent out the Afonja Warriors on a 5-3 aggregate.

Speaking after  the loss to the Porcupine Warriors, Sanni  showed his displeasure and disappointment  over his player’s lackadaisical approach   as they lost several  scoring opportunities.

 “I’m highly disappointed,” Sanni  said in an interview aired on Brila Fm. “Look  at the number of chances we created,  we scored three goals in Accra but we  were unable to convert our chances here at home (Abeokuta).”

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Incidentally, the loss to Asante Kotoko means  that  Kwara United  cannot  aim to their best  showing in  previous   CAF Confederation  Cup  appearance  having crashed out of the same  competition  in the Group Stage in 2007.In their last appearance in the same competition in the 2022/23 season , they were eliminated  in the Second Round .

“At times like this, I don’t know if the players were carried away,” Sanni further lamented.

“ We tried to score at all costs but were unable and look at the goal we conceded,  it’s so painful.”

Aside Kwara United, Nigeria’s other representative in the CAF Confederation Cup, Abia Warriors  also crashed out of the competition on Sunday  following their 2-1 aggregate loss to the Djoliba Athletic Club of Bamako, Mali.

Nigeria’s hope of a place in the quarter final of the CAF Confederation Cup got dashed by Enyimba yesterday in Cairo, Egypt following the People’s Elephant’s 3-1 loss to Zamalek in the last group stage game.

Enyimba would have progressed to the next round had they defeated the Cairo giants as Black Bulls of Mozambique took care of Al Masry in Egypt in the other Group D fixture.

Though they had qualified to the last eight with a game to spare, Zamalek showed they meant business with the game’s opening goal in the 29^th  minute through Egyptian attacker, Mostafa Shalaby.

The Egyptian ensured they went into halftime with a goal cushion and quickly made it two four minutes into the second half through the strike of Tunisian hitman, Seifeddine Jaziri. Enyimba tried to salvage something from the encounter when their highest scorer in the competition, Ifeanyi Ihemekwele halved the deficit in the 51^st  minute. It was his fourth goal of the campaign.

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Jaziri again struck three minutes from full time to evaporate any dreams the Nigerian side had of progressing further in the competition. It was the 31-year-old second of the game.

With the defeat, Enyimba finished the group stage third in Group D with five points from six games while Zamalek were the runaway group leaders with 14 points from the same number of games.

Al Masry progressed alongside their Egyptian side, Zamalek in second spot with nine points having conquered stubborn Black Bulls of Mozambique 3-1 in Cairo. They led 3-0 at halftime.

Nigeria’s chances of presenting four teams in Africa next season now hangs in the balance with the country in 13th spot and behind Mali whose representatives, Stade Malien must lose at home to CD Lunda Sul of Angola in a late Group B game in the CAF Confederation Cup group stage for the country to stand any chance.

The chase for the prestigious CAF Confederation Cup title currently held by Egyptian giants Zamalek SC is heating up, with clubs in the group stages working towards advancing from the gruelling group phase of home and away fixtures.

The defending champions were away to former African champions, Enyimba in a Group D match played in Uyo that ended 2-2 after a nail-biting affair between two African football giants.

The reigning champions will be disappointed with the draw after they let a two-goal cushion slip after goals by Seifeddine Jaziri and Omar Faraj in the first half were cancelled out by Ufere Chukwu and Ifeanyi Ihemekwele strikes for the spoils to be shared equally.

The result sees Zamalek remain top of the group with four points, while Enyimba go up to third with their first point of the group stages.

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There was a high-scoring encounter in Luanda’s Estadio de 11 Novembro when Bravos do Maquis narrowly edged a spirited Sfaxien FC 3-2 in a highly entertaining Group A encounter.

Keoikantse Mosiatlhaga opened the scoring for the hosts in the 27^th minute, which was immediately cancelled out by Mohamed Dhuaoui’s strike just minutes later.

Joaquim Paciencia restored Bravos’ lead before Francisco Matonco made it three to the hosts, for what looked set to be a comfortable victory ahead of the break.

Coming back from the recess, Hazem Hassen reduced the deficit soon after the resumption to set up what would be a highly entertaining second half.

Besides a number of goal scoring opportunities, both sides failed to convert their created chances in the second stanza for the match to end 3-2 in favour of the hosts.

The narrow victory sees Bravos go second behind SC Constantine who overcame Simba SC in a simultaneous fixture, while the Tunisians remain bottom of the group.

Enyimba may be winning the psychological warfare as it concerns the Matchday 2 of the CAF Confederation Cup game between the Peoples Elephant and Zamalek of Egypt with their opponents in crisis at present.

Egyptian media personality, Khaled El-Ghandour, claimed  a major financial crisis is on-going at Zamalek Club, as the team’s players are suffering from delayed payments.

El-Ghandour said  as much during  an interview on the Al-Mahwar channel that the situation inside the club has become unstable due to the delay in payment of players’ salaries.

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According to him , Zamalek players demanded to receive advance payments on their contracts for the new season, especially since they have not received any financial dues since the beginning of the current season.

Al-Ghandour indicated that the players went to the team’s football director, Abdel-Wahid Al-Sayed, requesting his intervention to resolve the crisis.

The game against Enyimba International is scheduled for the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo this weekend with the Nigerian team hoping to win their first game after their 2-0 loss in Egypt to Al Masry last week.

Nigeria’s sole survivor  in this year’s  continental  cups, Enyimba International FC , have been handed a uphill task to qualify for the quarter final of the CAF Confederation Cup after being  paired with Egyptian Premier League sides, Zamalek and Al-Masry and Mozambican’s Black Bulls in Group D.

The People’s Elephant stopped Etoile Filante of Burkina Faso via penalties  in the  qualifying round but must be ready to break the recent monopoly of North African teams on Nigerian teams in the CAF inter clubs competitions in order to qualify from the group.

Defending champions Zamalek punched their ticket into the CAF Confederation Cup group stage with win over Kenya’s Police FC 3-1 on aggregate in the second preliminary round last September while the second Egyptian side Al Masry qualified into the group stage after eliminating Al-Hilal of Libya 5-3 on penalties in the second leg of the competition’s second preliminary round, following a dramatic 5-5 aggregate draw.

In the other draw conducted at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, defending champions, USMA Alger of Algeria, has been drawn in Group C alongside ASEC Mimosas of Côte d’Ivoire, Jaraaf of Senegal and Orapa United of Botswana.

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It’s noteworthy to mention that no club side from two African powerhouses Cameroon and Ghana made it to the group stage of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup competitions.

Out of the 16 clubs in the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup, six are from North Africa, five  from the Southern Africa, four  from West Africa while Simba SC is the lone flag bearer from East Africa but Central Africa has no representative.

Full  CAF Confederation Cup group stage draw:

GROUP A

Simba SC (Tanzania)

CS Sfaxien (Tunisia)

CS Constantine (Algeria)

Bravos do Maquis (Angola)

GROUP B

RS Berkane (Morocco)

Stade Malien Bamako (Mali)

Stellenbosch FC (South Africa)

Desportivo Lundavs Sul (Angola)

GROUP C

USM Alger (Algeria)

ASEC Mimosas (Ivory Coast)

Jaraaf (Senegal)

Orapa United (Botswana)

GROUP D

Zamalek (Egypt)

Al Masry (Egypt)

Enyimba (Nigeria)

Black Bulls Maputo (Mozambique)

MATCHDAYS

Matchday 1: November 28, 2024

Matchday 2: December 8, 2024

Matchday 3: December 15, 2024

Matchday 4: January 5, 2025

Matchday 5: January 12, 2025

Matchday 6: January 19, 2025

Enyimba head coach Yemi Olanrewaju has  admitted  that the battle was far from over despite securing a goalless away  draw against Etoile Filante de Ouagadougou in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup tie played last weekend.

Olanrewaju said  his players must aspire for a home win to scale through to the group stage of the Africa’s second tier club competition , adding they must continue to play to instructions and draw inspiration from their impressive first leg performance in Bamako, Mali.

 “The job is far from over, and we can’t afford to celebrate yet. Next week’s return leg in Uyo will be crucial,” Olanrewaju said after the first leg. “We’ll go back to the drawing board, work harder, and prepare for the challenge ahead.”

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Olanrewaju praised his team’s tactical edge and discipline, which nullified the hosts’ attacking threats.

“We had a clear game plan, and the players executed it perfectly. Our tactical discipline prevented Etoile Filante de Ouagadougou from creating any meaningful scoring opportunities.”

The Enyimba FC boss acknowledged the tough opposition but remains confident in his team’s ability to secure a win at home.

 “Etoile Filante de Ouagadougou is a formidable opponent, but we have the quality and determination to get the job done in Uyo,” he added.

Enyimba’s second leg tie against Etoile comes up on 22 September 2024 at 4pm.